Snapshot backups have been in play for some time and are gaining traction at a swift pace. In a snapshot system, applications running on hosts may store data on source storage. For data protection, snapshots of the source storage may be taken and stored on target storage. Different target storage may be configured for different snapshot methods. For example, when SNAP method is used to perform a snapshot backup, a target storage configured for SNAP method may be paired with the source storage to store snapshot data using SNAP method. When clone or mirror is used to perform a snapshot backup, a different target storage configured for clone or mirror may be paired with the same source storage.
Systems and methods may be in place to pool target storages configured for multiple snapshot methods. In such systems, when performing a snapshot, intelligence may be built in to automatically choose an optimal snapshot method based on data change rate fluctuation. Depending on the chosen snapshot method, some target storage from the pool configured for the snapshot method may be paired with the source storage. In such systems, generating a snapshot map may provide many uses in storage system management.